Thomas W. Palmer

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MICHIGAN HISTORICAL COMMISSION
A State Department of History and Archives

THOMAS W. PALMER

By M. AGNES BURTON

AbVANCE PAGES, PROCEEDINGS OF THE MICH-
IGAN PIONEER AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY

LANSING, MICHIGAN

WYNKOOP HALLENBECK CRAWFORD CO., STATE PRINTERS

1914

MICHIGAN HISTORICAL COMMISSION
A Statu Department of History and Archives

THOMAS W. PALMER

By M. AGNES BURTON

ADVANCE PAGES, PROCEEDINGS OF THE MICH-
IGAN PIONEER AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY

/S/WVv

LANSING, MICHIGAN
WVNKOOP HALLENBECK CK.WVKORD CO.. STATE PRINTERS

1911

T 2LVB°\

Gift
Carnegie Institution
•f Washington

THOMAS W. PALMER

BY M. AGNES BURTON

Thomas Witherell Palmer, or as he was more
familiarly known, "Tom Palmer," the only son of
Thomas Palmer and Mary A. Witherell, was born in
Detroit, Michigan, January 25, 1830, in a brick
building on the southeast corner of Jefferson avenue
and Griswold street. His ancestors, both paternal
and maternal, were among the first New Englanders
to seek a home in the west.

Thomas Palmer, the father of Thomas W. Palmer,
was born at Ashford, Conn., February 4, 1789. When
eighteen years of age, in company with an older
brother, Friend, he became an "itinerant merchant, a
common vocation in New England at that time.
They set out with a stock of general merchandise and
a span of horses, traveling through Western Canada
until they reached Maiden. Here they established
themselves and carried on a successful business until
the War of 1812, when they were made prisoners.
After being held five weeks and being unwilling to
take the oath of allegiance to Great Britain, they
were transported over the river to Monguagon. They
proceeded to Detroit and were very soon again made
prisoners. This time they were released on parole and

Read by Mr. C. M. Burton at the Midwinter Meeting, Port Huron. February 5)
1914.

4 THOMAS \Y. PALMER

returned to Connecticut. Again they set out with
merchandise and making their headquarters at Can-
andaigua, New York, Thomas departed for Canada
and Detroit, arriving at the latter place on June 16.
1815.

From this date Thomas Palmer made Detroit his
permanent residence and became the western repre-
sentative of the firm F. and T. Palmer. In 1820 he
built the brick building on the southeast corner of
Jefferson avenue and Griswold street, with a store on
the first floor and his home above. The firm flour-
ished until 1824 when the partnership was dissolved
and from that time on Thomas was interested in var-
ious projects of importance.

In 1823 he contracted in conjunction with David C.
McKinstry and DeGarmo Jones to build the court
house for the City of Detroit. This building was
to be completed December 1, 1824 and in payment for
the work the contractors received lands in the Ten
Thousand Acre Tract and one hundred forty-four
city lots. The larger share of this property subse-
quently came into the possession of the Palmer family
through purchase. He had a share in one of the wharfs
on the river; took contracts for grading and hauling;
owned valuable lands in St. Clair county, where he
laid out the village of Palmer (later called St. Clair)
and operated a saw mill thereon; had a lumber yard
at the foot of Bates street, Detroit; owned interests
in several of the steamboats on the river at various
times, and in 1845 speculated in Lake Superior mining

THOMAS W. PALMER. 5

lands. He was intimately connected with the build-
ing of the First Baptist Church, contributing money
and lumber for its construction and was a stockholder
in the Association for Promoting Female Education
in Detroit. In 1819 he was one of the trustees of the
town and he served as alderman at large several times.
He was a jolly, kind-hearted man, weighing about 250
pounds and was the butt of many a good-natured joke.
In later years he was in partnership with his son,
Thomas W. Palmer. He died August 3, 1868 after
several years of painful illness.

Mary Amy Witherell, the mother of Thomas W.
Palmer, was the third daughter of Judge James Withe-
rell and Amy Hawkins, and was born in Fair Haven,
Vermont, October 4, 1795. Her father had, in 1809,
been appointed one of the judges of the Supreme court
of the Territory of Michigan. Mrs. Witherell and her
children joined him in 1810, but the hostilities of the
savages and lack of comforts induced her to take her
children and return to Vermont for a visit in 1811.

At Hull's surrender, Judge Witherell, his oldest son,
James C. C, and a son-in-law, Joseph Watson, were
taken prisoners and sent to Kingston, Canada. They
were soon paroled and joined their families in Ver-
mont. After the war Judge Witherell returned to
Detroit where he continued in office for twenty years,
when he became Secretary of the Territory. He died
January 9, 1838.

Judge Witherell's daughter, Mary Amy, married
Thomas Palmer August 20, 1821. They traveled east
on their wedding trip and returning on the Walk-in-

6 THOMAS W. PALMER.

the-Water were wrecked near Buffalo, November 6,
1821.

Thomas James Palmer, who in 1850 changed his
name to Thomas Witherell Palmer, was the third of
the four children of Thomas Palmer and Mary Amy
Witherell Palmer, who grew to maturity. His oldest
sister, Mary Amy, named from her mother, was born
in Detroit, in 1826 and died November 29, 1854. On
June 22, 1848, she married Henry M. Roby, of the
firm of Hunt and Roby, who was a loved and life long
friend of Thomas W.'s and whose daughter Mary Roby
Hamilton was to have been heiress to the Palmer
wealth and estates, had not death cut short her career in
April 1890. His second sister Julia, married on
November 2. 1853, Henry W. Hubbard, who died in
New York, April 28, 1871. Later, Mrs. Hubbard
married Hugh Moffat, January 27, 1879. She died
November 20, 1880. Sara, the youngest sister, died
unmarried November 22, 1859.

When Thomas W. was three months old, the house
in which he was born burned to the ground. His
family sought a temporary residence in a building
near by but soon removed to a house on Woodward
avenue. This was a "rough cast house" nearly
opposite Cliff's tavern where John R. street joins
Woodward avenue. It was two and a half stories
high, quite commodious and had a garden extending
up to the Grand Circus Park. The Palmers remained
here until some time in 1834 when they removed to
their comfortable residence just completed on the
corner of Fort and Shelby streets. Here they lived

THOMAS W. PALMER. /

nearly seventeen years and in 1851 moved to a hand-
some new home on Jefferson avenue.

Tom's first school days were spent in Detroit where
his good-nature and mischievousness quickly attracted
many friends. One of his early teachers was Ebenezer
Hurd Rogers, named after Ebenezer Hurd, an uncle
of Tom's— the husband of his Aunt Betsy Witherell.
In November 1842, when he was twelve years old he
was sent to an excellent private school for boys and
girls, conducted by the Rev. O. C. Thompson in the
village of Palmer (St. Clair). Here he soon showed a
precociousness which placed him far in advance of
many of the older children.

Under Mr. Thompson, he prepared for the Uni-
versity of Michigan, studying Latin, Greek, Algebra
and the ordinary English branches. His essays written
during the three years at the Academy show unusual
originality of style and composition. Here he made
many new friends, among them being David Jerome,
who later defeated him in the nomination for governor
of Michigan.

Mr. Palmer used to tell amusing stories of Ins school
days at Palmer. Once when Mr. Thompson wanted
to have an exhibition of the work done in his school
he called upon Tom to write a Latin salutatory. He
says, "I didn't know what a salutatory was, but I
looked it up in the dictionary and found that it was a
'welcome.' I didn't know any more about a Latin
salutatory than a broncho, but I knew that few of
those to be in attendance were any wiser, witli the ex-
ception of Mr. Thompson, so I took down my Latin

8 THOMAS W. PALMER.

dictionary and produced a salutatory which if it had
been read in the days of Augustus, would have been the
hit of the year and would have convulsed four or
five Colosseums with laughter. But it went off in
good style, sounded very learned; everybody was
satisfied and Mr. Thompson gratified."

Another amusing incident of his boyhood, one which
shows an early budding of his business instinct, is told
in connection with the excitement aroused over the
Polk-Clay election. Tom's father was an ardent Clay
man. Tom Sheldon, one of his playmates, was the
son of a staunch Polk man. The boys bet a shilling
on the election, but as the day approached Tom
Palmer began to hedge, and having no shilling to pay
his debt he bet with Jim Simpson against Clay. After
election Sheldon came to collect his debt and Tom
referred him to Jim who when he learned of the game,
vowed he would never pay Sheldon. For years it was
a standing joke between Sheldon who annually dunned
Palmer and Palmer who annually refused to pay his
election bet.

Tom's schooldays at Palmer soon passed and in the
fall of 1845 he was admitted into the State University
at Ann Arbor. Here he continued his former studies,
always keeping in sight his early ambition to study
law and by that means to enter the field of politics.
He was very popular with his professors and the Ann
Arbor people with whom he became acquainted and
with his college chums. In 1847 he joined the Chi Psi
fraternity.

Owing to ill health from which he had suffered all

THOMAS \Y. PALMER. \)

through his college course and to continual trouble
with his eyes, he was forced to give up his studying
early in 1848 and for a time to abandon his desire to
become a lawyer. He returned to Detroit and soon
with five of his college chums decided to travel, paying
his way by Daguerrean art. He also made arrange-
ments to consult an eye specialist while in New York.

On October 24, 1848, David James, Cleveland
Whiting, Stephen Tillotson, James Witherell, George
Kellogg and Tom Palmer boarded the "Potomac"
bound for Brazil by way of Cadiz. Tillotson furnished
most of the capital and the boys went in debt for the
balance. Palmer's letter to his mother just before
sailing was full of enthusiasm at the prospect of the
trip and hope that his eyes would recover in the long
rest so that he could study law upon his return.

The voyage across the ocean was rough and tedious
and on December 1, 1848, six weary boys set their
feet upon terra firma for the first time in thirty-four
days. They landed at Cadiz on a bright warm day,
and in after years Palmer often described the joy they
felt upon that December day in 1848. After a three
weeks walking tour in Spain and Christmas at Cadiz,
they set sail December 30, for Rio Janeiro, which
Palmer described as the "dirtiest place on earth."

He then returned to New Orleans, landing there
May 1, 1849. His independent spirit prompted him
to stop there long enough to work off his debt, but
his longing for home and the knowledge that he would
be promptly invited to return, that his debts would be
paid and a parental blessing bestowed as soon as his

10 THOMAS W. PALMER

family knew of his return to his home country, made
him weaken. He wrote home with the expected result
and reached Detroit early in the summer.

The condition of his eyes still prevented close ap-
plication or reading, and he again abandoned his desire
to study law. In May 1850, he set out on board the
steamer "Michigan," and landing at Green Bay,
Wisconsin, very soon established himself with Whitney
and Company, forwarding and commission merchants.
During his connection with this company he was
stationed at Kaukalin, Green Bay and Appleton.
Here he saw plenty of opportunities to "turn a penny"
and did not fail to take advantage of them. Here he
also had his first political experience. In the fall of
1850, he was elected, without seeking the honor, dele-
gate to the Whig County convention to be held Octo-
ber 22. He was chosen secretary of the convention
and after transcribing the proceedings of the meeting,
was appointed delegate to the Senatorial Convention
to be held at Manitouwoc. That honor he declined,
because he could not conscientiously neglect his busi-
ness. Here he celebrated his 21st birthday January
25, 1851, and on that occasion wrote a letter home to
his brother-in-law Henry Roby, asking for advice as to
his future career. This letter reveals a wisdom that is
surprising in a young man of that age. It shows him
still clinging to his early ambition to study law as a
means to an end, but as being rather inclined to build
a career upon a mercantile basis and to study law as
a side issue.

Immediately following this letter he set himself up

THOMAS W. PALMER 11

as a merchant, stocking himself with general goods
and speculating in flour and grains. He succeeded
very well, but was burned out January 19, 1852, and
was able to recover but a small part of the damage
covered by insurance. He made a plucky attempt to
start again, but in the effort to recover his insurance he
saw a better opening, which resulted in his establishing
himself in partnership with his father in the insurance
business in Detroit.

In Detroit, in 1853-4, they had an office under the
Farmer's and Mechanic's Bank, and their business
card read, "Insurance, Land and Tax Agency, Thomas
Palmer and Son." They were agents for the Monarch
Fire and Life Assurance Company, Irving Fire In-
surance Company and Mohawk Valley Fire Insurance
Company. They also agreed to attend to the purchase
and conveyancing of farms and wild land and city
property and the payment of taxes, in Michigan, Wis-
consin and Illinois. They investigated titles and pur-
chased patent titles to bounty lands in Illinois. Mr.
Palmer immediately took his old place in the society
of the city and was called by the young men of his
acquaintance "quite a blood."

In July 1855, his first effort in a literary line was
printed in the Detroit Tribune under the signature
"Jose." On October 16, 1855, he married Lizzie Pitts
Merrill, daughter of Charles Merrill, a wealthy lumber
man who owned and operated large pine interests in
Michigan and ran a large mill at East Saginaw. He
continued in business with his father until 1860 when
he became bookkeeper for the firm of Charles Merrill

12 THOMAS W. PALMER

and Company. In 1863 he went into partnership
with Mr. Merrill and remained with the firm until
Mr. Merrill's death in 1872, after which he took into
the company as partner, J. A. Whittier of Saginaw.
Under the name of C. Merrill and Company, they
managed the business for over thirty years, selling out
only in 1903.

In the summer of 1856 Palmer made several stump
speeches for Fremont and Dayton, and in August
while visiting in Portland, Maine, made an address be-
fore a republican meeting, upon which the papers com-
mented favorably. In 1860 he came near being nomi-
nated alderman of the first ward, but lost to N. P.
Jacobs.

In 1864, owing to Mrs. Palmer's ill health, they
took up their residence on the corner of Woodward
avenue and Farnsworth street, which at that time
was looked upon as a suburban home. Here his
attention was divided between his business and the
management of a miniature farm. Upon the death of
his father in 1868, he assumed the care and responsi-
bility of all of his mother's estate — the lands on
Jefferson avenue and a farm out Woodward avenue
where the present "Palmer Park" is located. On
December 28, 1872 Mr. Merrill died, leaving his
daughter and Mr. Palmer his heirs.

The year 1873 was the real beginning of Palmer's
political career, which extended over less than twenty
years. That year he was elected one of the estimators
at large on the first Board of Estimates of the City.
The most important question which came before them

THOMAS W. PALMER 13

was the buying of a city park. In 1876 Mr. Palmer
was a candidate for member of Congress for the First
District, but was beaten by Henry M. Duffield. In
1878 he declined to run again, but upon the earnest
solicitation of his friends he accepted the nomination
for state senator, tendered him by acclamation, and
won the election.

While in the state senate he introduced a bill to es-
tablish an institution for delinquent girls, which was
passed. He presented a petition of many citizens of
Detroit for the passage of a law enabling the city to
issue bonds to the sum of $700,000 for the purchase of
Belle Isle for a city park and to build a bridge over the
American channel of the Detroit River. This bill was
acted upon and May 27, 1879, the legislature author-
ized the city, with the consent of the estimators, to
issue bonds and purchase the island. On September
25 of that year the purchase was consummated. Mr.
Palmer's interest in the improvements of his city is
seen in his support of a petition of Detroit citizens for
a boulevard around the city, which resulted in a pro-
vision of the legislature May 21, 1879, for a Board of
Boulevard Commissioners. A petition signed by wo-
men and men of Detroit for an amendment to the State
Constitution to the end that women might vote for the
election of school officers was presented by Thomas
W. Palmer. He was also interested in petitions for
prohibition, and during this short period of two years
he became the champion of several causes which he
continued to support throughout the rest of his life.
In 1879 he was chairman of the republican com-

14 THOMAS W. PALMER

mittee, and made several campaign speeches. He
ran for nomination for governor of the state, but was
defeated by his old school friend of St. Clair Academy,
David Jerome. This defeat was thought to have been
a great disappointment to Mr. Palmer, but his speech
when Jerome was nominated showed that he was a
good loser and generous even in defeat.

"One by one the martyrs pass before you, but we
come not as martyrs, but as apostles of the great Re-
publican party. It was said that when the French
army was retreating from Moscow in the march, while
the soldiers exhausted by hunger, frozen by the cold,
were dropping by the wayside, they would rise as
Napoleon passed by and cry out 'Long live the Em-
peror' then fall back in the snow as their winding
sheets. What was it the French soldier cheered as
Napoleon passed by? Was it the man who crossed
the bridge at Lodi? * * * * They cheered because
they saw in that cocked hat and gray surtout, visions
of the vine-covered cottage on the banks of the Seine
or the Loire, the gray-haired father, the yearning eyes
of the mother, the little brothers and sisters and all
the delights of home.

"So do we, who have been frozen out today by the
votes of your delegates rise up and cry out as the great
Republican party passes by 'Long live the Republican
Party.' * * * *

"Thanking you gentlemen of the convention and
particularly my friends within your ranks who have
been so generous in their support of me, I congratulate
you upon the result you have achieved. In nomi-

THOMAS W. PALMER 15

nating Mr. Jerome you have done the very best you
could under the circumstances, possibly with one ex-
ception. I predict an overwhelming majority for our
candidate in November."

On Decoration day, 1879, he made an eloquent ad-
dress on the Campus Martius near the Soldiers' Monu-
ment. This was only the beginning of many eloquent
addresses by Michigan's most popular orator.

In 1882 his name began to appear for United States
Senator to succeed Ferry, but not until he saw that
Ferry was losing did he allow his name to be used.
He won the election and took his seat as Senator
December 3, 1883. While in the Senate he made one
of the first speeches ever made in that body in favor
of woman suffrage. He strongly favored government
regulation of railroads, and originated the phrase
''Equal rights to all, special privileges to none." He
was one of the few who dared to take a stand against
trusts, and in his speeches he sounded warnings
against the dangers of permitting big corporations to
gain so much power. He introduced a bill in favor of
regulations to restrict immigration and prepared an
exhaustive and comprehensive report for its support.
He was chairman of the committee on agriculture, had
charge of a bill creating the department of agriculture,
and had much to do with its passage. As a presiding
officer he had an enviable reputation for dignity and
neatness of dispatch.

He was a gifted orator and a still better debater.
His address in Washington at the memorial exercises
for Gen. John A. Logan is generally regarded as his

16 THOMAS W. PALMER

most finished oratorical effort. On June 29, 1887, he
addressed the graduating class in the University of
Michigan, and because of his attitude toward the
liquor question he was severely criticised by papers
when his name was again mentioned for political office
in 1888. His words, "It is better that the strong should
want alcohol than that the weak should be overcome by
it" were quoted and commented upon, but Mr. Palmer
put a quietus on the criticisms by announcing that he
was not a candidate for second term. At this time
there was a rumor that he was to be made Secretary
of Agriculture in Harrison's Cabinet, but in spite of
Palmer's enthusiasm over agriculture and his work in
establishing that department, he did not receive the
portfolio.

In 1889, unsolicited, Harrison offered Palmer the
Embassy to Spain. A grand farewell dinner was given
in his honor and he sailed in April, accompanied by his
wife, his niece and heir, Mary Roby Hamilton, her
husband Capt. Hamilton, U. S. A., Mr. William
Livingstone, Jr., and General Friend Palmer, his
cousin.

Even while in Spain he was not allowed to rest. His
friends were ever urging him to run for governor, and it
is very probable that it was his intention to again enter
the gubernatorial arena when he cut short his stay in
Spain, departing in the early Spring of 1890. On the
way to America he received news that his niece Mary
Roby Hamilton had died. This, together with the
death of his brother-in-law Henry M. Roby before his

THOMAS W. P A L M E R 1 7

arrival in the city, so deeply affected Palmer that he
emphatically declined to consider the possibility of be-
coming a candidate for Governor of Michigan.

In June 1890 Harrison appointed Palmer one of the
Commissioners for the World's Fair to be held at
Chicago in 1893 and the board elected him President.
The excellent results of his work in this connection
speak volumes for his wonderful executive ability and
his tact in handling people. This ended Palmer's
political career, although there were frequent attempts
to draw him again into the whirl, in 1895 and 1899.

After the Fair he suffered from a nervous collapse
which necessitated a long rest. This was spent with
Mrs. Palmer on Long Island Sound where they later
built a beautiful home known as Larchmont Manor.
In the fall of 1895 their Woodward avenue residence
was destroyed by fire. Fortunately many of the
valuable pictures, rugs and curios had been moved to
Larchmont and were preserved. In 1897 the Senator
built a handsome brick residence on the Log Cabin
Farm/ where he spent his declining years until his
death June 1, 1913. There, surrounded by his books,
he welcomed his friends, annually entertained the
"Old Boy's Club," and celebrated several of his birth-
days. He read, wrote, learned to ride a bicycle and
indulged in his favorite hobby of farming and breeding
fancy stock.

As no child had ever entered the Palmer home, the
Senator lavished his affection upon an adopted daugh-
ter, Grace Palmer Rice and a Spanish boy, Harold
Palmer, to whom Mr. and Mrs. Palmer had become

18 THOMAS W. PALMER

deeply attached during his official life to Spain, and
who became his heir.

His business activities throughout his life, although
varied, had been almost uniformily successful and he
had amassed a large fortune before he entered the
political arena. He always gave freely, both privately
and publicly; hospitals, charitable institutions, G. A.
R., Y. M. C. A. and the University of Michigan were
recipients of his generosity.

A lover of art, he was one of the founders of the Art
Museum of Detroit, gave $15,000 to start it and was
its first President. In 1848 he was one of the original
members of the " Vingt Club," a society similar to the
Audubon Society, and in 1877 he was one of the found-
ers of the Detroit Humane Society.

During the Civil War he was one of the most en-
thusiastic promoters of the Michigan Soldiers' Monu-
ment Association Upon its organization, in July
1861, he was chosen secretary, and served through
1885. The site chosen for the monument was in east
Grand Circus Park, and the cornerstone was laid July
4, 1867. After much consultation and in accordance
with the recommendations of Randolph Rogers, the
artist, it was decided to locate the monument on the
Campus Martius. The cornerstone was removed and
on April 9, 1872, the monument was formally dedi-
cated.

Mr. Palmer was a member of many Patriotic So-
cieties, of several city clubs, the Equal Suffrage Club
of Michigan and the National American Woman's
Suffrage Association. He was a member of Zion

THOMAS W. PALMER 19

Lodge No. 1 and an honorary member of the Light
Guards.

Although a Unitarian and a liberal contributor to all
its demands, he gave freely to the support of other
religious institutions. The Mary W. Palmer M. E.
Memorial Church he erected as a loving tribute to his
mother, and in his will he left a generous sum toward
the support of superannuated Methodist Episcopal
preachers.

In acknowledgment of several gifts to, and a life-
long interest in, Albion College, President Dickie
conferred upon Palmer as a Christmas gift in 1904,
the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws.

He was always the first to be called upon if any
guest of honor was to be entertained. He was a
popular toast master and chairman, and no committee
for civic or patriotic entertainment was complete
without him. He was constantly called to preside at
some public function and always acquitted himself
with brilliancy and wit. An amusing story related in
illustration of his resourcefulness is as follows: In 1887
upon the occasion of a visit of a number of Mexican
government officials, Palmer gave an eloquent address
of welcome in Spanish. After the speech, the Mexicans
crowded about Palmer, praising his Spanish and the
warm welcome, and asking a thousand questions, de-
lighted with the thought that there was at least one
person who could understand their native tongue.
After a moment of confused embarrassment. Palmer
shook himself free of the ardent Mexicans and feigning
deafness, beat a hastv retreat.

20 THOMAS W, PALMER

However he was never so happy as when at his
Log Cabin farm at the five mile road out Woodward
avenue farming and playing the role of "mein Host."
This farm he inherited from his mother, and by ad-
ditions and improvements he had made of it a beautiful
spot. Here in 1887, he gratified a whim of Mrs.
Palmer's to live in a real log cabin. Furnished
throughout with handsome old mahogany that had
been in the Palmer, Witherell and Merrill families
and equipped with every modern appliance, the log
cabin made a comfortable suburban residence. At
"Font Hill" as it was first called, later "Log Cabin
Farm" Mr. and Mrs. Palmer spent much of their time,
away from the noise and confusion of the city which
had gradually encroached upon their Woodward avenue
home.

In 1895 Mr. Palmer presented the city with one hun-
dred and forty acres of his beloved farm to be used as a
pleasure park for the people of the City of Detroit,
with only one stipulation, that none of the virgin
forest should be wantonly destroyed. "Log Cabin
Park," or "Palmer Park" as it is also called, is one of
the most beautiful parks in the city, second only to
Belle Isle. It is visited daily by thousands and is a
beautiful and fitting monument to one of Detroit's
most loyal and useful citizens.

A sketch of this great man would not be complete
without a few words concerning the faithful partner
of his long and useful life, who is now making her home
at Larchmont Manor. Mrs. Palmer, Lizzie Pitts
Merrill, was the daughter of Charles Merrill and

THOMAS W. PALM E R 21

Frances Pitts. She was always a frail, delicate
woman, but so far as her health would permit she took
a keen and active interest in all of Mr. Palmer's
affairs. She traveled with him, was with him while
in Spain and was one of the most charming and popular
hostesses during Mr. Palmer's Washington career.

Mrs. Palmer was interested in the Humane Society,
and on July 15, 1901, gave the city the "Merrill
Humane Fountain" in memory of her father. She
also shared in the gift of "Log Cabin Park" and the
famous Log Cabin. Although wealthy in her own
right, she was the principal beneficiary and residuary
legatee in the will of her husband.

Mr. Palmer's final act of generosity is shown in the
terms of his will, in which he has provided for a host
of relatives, apparently remembering everyone in pro-
portion to their wants, with donations of money or
provisions for their support by annuities. All of the
remainder of his estate after these bequests were made,
he left to his wife.

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